


Moments in Time

by Delphinapterus



Category: House M.D.
Genre: 1000-3000 words, F/M, Hospital, M/M, Pain, Secrets, Workplace relations, ending relationships, over 1000 words
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-04-01
Updated: 2010-04-01
Packaged: 2017-10-08 14:37:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,193
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/76669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delphinapterus/pseuds/Delphinapterus
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After surgery came more pain.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moments in Time

**Author's Note:**

> This is for the [drabble change](http://anamatics.livejournal.com/12078.html) from . Page numbers at the beginning of the quote. I've used _Shockwave Rider_ by John Brunner.

10\. _"So the fencing screen stayed rolled in its tube along with the light-pencil and the scorer."_  
After surgery came more pain. As the pain dulled and House learned to block it, as well as anyone could block a hot poker in the thigh, he got bored. Wilson bought him a Game-boy and _Space Blaster 3000_; Stacy's lips got a pinched look when she saw it. She brought _Real World Soccer_ the next day. When he tried to play it, House realized it was the closest he'd get to playing it for the rest of his life. He called Stacy a sadistic bitch when she came back that evening. She didn't come back for two days and the game stayed rolled in a sock while he killed space monsters. Wilson brought chips.

20\. _"At least in warfare there is passion."_  
Julie was calm and he never yelled. They might hate each other, they might be ready for divorce - oh please, not again - but they were polite. It was excruciating. Always waiting for something to shatter, knowing it never would. Sex wasn't good; it didn't even manage to be mechanical. They were two empty shells in an empty, pretty house. He wanted something to break their self-inflicted silence – even just a dropped pot. It's the roar of a motorcycle that fractures them into sharp shards. He opens the door to House on his violently orange bike.   
"Jimmy, come for a ride."

30\. _"However, I'm trying to give that up and might even consider getting married one of these years."_  
Wilson gave up theater at twenty-one; no money in it. He gave up Richard at twenty-three; bad for a career. Twenty-five, he gave up bachelorhood for Sandra. Twenty-eight, he got divorced but he was a fully qualified doctor by then, so it wasn't too bad. Thirty was a good year. He perfected his approach to getting women, got a new job, and met House. Thirty-one to thirty-seven brought House, two wives, and two divorces. House made the first move, gave the first kiss. Thirty-eight brought a joint-apartment, late-night cuddling (he hadn't expected that), and even later duets. This time he didn't try to give it up and he didn't look for another marriage.

40\. _ "But at that moment he caught sight of odds being quoted which he simply didn't believe."_  
He hadn't thought, not actively, about Weber – von Lieberman – in three years. A little news release from one of the big pharmaceuticals caught his attention and Philip Weber was back under the microscope. Published in Hindi with odds he couldn't believe. Basic knowledge and an English-Hindi dictionary got him through the paper – overly long and dust-dry even at the speed he could translate. By end he knew it was bad science and von Lieberman was worse than a whore. Covert cash got him a couple test vials, and the coma patient confirmed it. Revenge was best served glacial, but patient care was a point of principal.

70\. _ "There are two kinds of fool."_  
Cameron works hard but not as hard as Foreman. Foreman has everything to prove – he's not a black criminal, he's a great neurologist - but he really doesn't, not to House, but House would never say that. Cameron doesn't want to be the pretty one but secretly she's pleased House thinks so. Nobody knows what Chase thinks. Foreman snaps and Cameron sighs. Both ask Wilson for advice. Foreman hates Wilson, just for a second, for the laughter; Cameron thinks his concern is sweet. They're both disappointed in their need. Chase doesn't say anything to either one; each night he watches Klimt's _Kiss_ come to life redefined.

120\. _"Are you a good player?"_  
House can read people; Wilson can read House. When Wilson plays House has to work to win. When they play alone the stakes are more inventive. It used to be lunches – Wilson is still staying off his debt. They used clinic hours until Cuddy caught them but that was ok because they didn't work very well anyway. The Head of Oncology can't spend all his time in the clinic. House would rather skip his hours and have Wilson, than not have Wilson and have his hours filled. Now it's truth or dare; he secretly wagers his heart on the cards.

90\. _"Take no thought for the morrow; that's your privilege."_  
House is always thinking, always analyzing. He has to think – it's a distraction and he craves it more than vicodin. Without thought, he is nothing but pain and pills. Every word, every action, all thought out, planned out until he's exhausted by it and still he must think. If he can't think, then he's worthless, just another addict who can't think. He sleeps fitfully; waking he plans for the next day pacing around the apartment. In sleep Wilson is compact and quiet. He doesn't wake to think about anything for the next day. He won't allow himself to do that.

100\. _"Think of the family doctor who's on hand at the hospital when you fall sick, with your entire medical history in focus to guide the unknown specialist."_  
House hates family doctors. Always sticking their nose in, trying to do his job. If they could do his job, they wouldn't have come begging for him to take the case. He wants the file nothing else. He bans them from his office. When one complains – he sees it coming after he tells the guy he's arrogant and oblivious – Cuddy puts in policy to have cases never delivered by the previous physician. He cures the moron's patient without having to prune limbs like the idiot wanted to. Wilson comes to him with a case presuming on their tenuous week-long acquaintance. House is disappointed in him until he sees the case. Wilson smiles when he nods his head, yes.

200\. _"Aside from that, though, something subtler, more significant had occurred."_  
Cuddy is always worried about House. As a doctor she should let it go, chalk it up to a learning experience but she can't, not when she sees his pain everyday. She puts Wilson's office next to Diagnostics even though she knows Wilson would get more work done if he was less accessible to House. Two months after Tritter, the balcony is still unused and House is in even more pain. Rehab wasn't for House, he knows his pain. She and Wilson are guilty of not believing him – again. When House invites them both to dinner- she vows never to be guilty again.

130\. _"Did you hear your heart?"_  
Nicky is five with big blue eyes that remind him of House. Whatever he has isn't cancer and Wilson is grateful. He passes the file to House knowing House will save Nicky. He worries that House won't be gentle with the little boy, he's never seen House with a child and he can vividly remember the last time House browbeat a patient. He sees Nicky's parents in the cafeteria; House could be making him cry by now. With growing dread he goes to Nicky's room. Stethoscope in his ears Nicky listens to his heart while House moves its bell around. Wilson feels silly for worrying.


End file.
